The Tributary

Not so long ago, Northeast Florida was the state’s best-kept housing secret: It was a younger, working-class alternative to the gilded retirement getaways in the state’s other large metros. Land was plentiful. Rents were lower. Houses were a bargain, even at the Beaches. That has changed dramatically. Voters here told the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab in 2025 that housing costs topped their list of concerns, displacing crime for the first time in the survey’s history.

A screenshot of a presentation from State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office about the circumstances that led to the November police shooting of a 14-year-old boy. Provided. A communication breakdown within the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office dispatch system led multiple officers on a frenzied, hour-long search for the wrong car in the wake of a fatal drive-by shooting last month in Northwest Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has not yet begun an internal affairs investigation into the nine officers stripped of their jail duties following a clash with 31-year-old Charles Faggart, who died in early April at UF Health, another loose thread in a slow-moving series of investigations surrounding the controversial death.

The Tributary today was awarded one of journalism’s most prestigious awards. ‘Cold-Blooded’ won the Online News Association’s feature reporting award, honoring excellence in online journalism that shows depth, insight and new understanding. The series has already been cited in filings to the Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court.

This story was produced through a collaboration between The Tributary and Climate Central. Kelly Googe has a lot of stories from her 32 years as a doula coaching women through their pregnancies. But, especially in the summer, she returns to one story repeatedly: A Jacksonville client, seven months pregnant, whose electricity was turned off because she couldn’t keep up with the bills. “Her home was ridiculously hot, and she worked on her feet in a warehouse.

For the second time within a year, one of the largest and most politically connected property management companies in Jacksonville has settled allegations that it violated the rights of its tenants. The Department of Justice announced in June that it struck an agreement with JWB Rental Homes for the firm to compensate six military tenants after, according to federal officials, illegally charging them to end their leases early.

A decades-long fight to remove the Rodman Dam in Putnam County suffered yet another defeat after Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday vetoed money set aside by lawmakers in the state budget to kickstart the project, which supporters say could have created millions in economic benefits to Northeast Florida and provided much-needed environmental relief to the St. Johns River.

Circuit Judge Kathryn D. Weston ruled last week that a Jacksonville activist must reimburse State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office $134,000 in legal fees stemming from a years-long fight over access to public records. Curtis Lee, a frequent public-records filer, originally sued Nelson’s office in 2020 for what he alleged were violations of the Florida Public Records Act. In 2022, the Court sided with the state attorney.

No physical evidence tied Kenneth Hartley to the 1991 kidnapping and murder of Gino Mayhew, 17. A seven-month Tributary investigation of Hartley’s case revealed a death penalty prosecution marred by critical omissions about the linchpin state witness and other questionable decisions and practices.

Award-winning investigative journalist will lead The Tributary’s newsroom and expand the organization’s impact This is an exciting day for The Tributary: I am thrilled to share the news that Nate Monroe will join our staff as Executive Editor next week. Many of you are already familiar with Nate’s work. He has been a beat reporter, investigative reporter, and columnist at newspapers in the Southeast for the past 15 years, most recently as a columnist for the USA Today Network across Florida.